


Pretending

by Mepharis



Series: Hollow Knight canon-divergence AU thing [1]
Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Dream No More Ending (Hollow Knight), Hollow needs a hug, No beta we die like mne, it/its Pronouns for the Hollow Knight, they get one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:13:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27949622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mepharis/pseuds/Mepharis
Summary: It knew it wasn't perfect.
Relationships: The Hollow Knight | Pure Vessel & Hornet
Series: Hollow Knight canon-divergence AU thing [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2065851
Comments: 12
Kudos: 86





	Pretending

**Author's Note:**

> Yes i wrote this in 30 minutes

_Do not think_

It knew it wasn’t what he wanted, but he had seemed so hopeful. 

It knew, as it climbed those platforms to the top, that it wasn’t empty. It wasn’t hollow. It wasn’t perfect.

It knew, as it stood on that final platform in front of him, that it shouldn’t be up here. But he looked at it with such determination in his eyes. 

It knew, as it turned to see another of it’s kind hanging off the edge, and almost moved to help it, that it would never be what he wanted.

But it had to be. It had to be perfect. It turned and walked through the exit.

_Do not speak_

It was referred to as “Pure Vessel.” It reminded itself that this wasn’t a name. Only a title.

The palace staff almost seemed to worship it. They stopped and bowed whenever it walked by. It would feel bad, knowing that they expected something from it that it would never be able to give, but to feel bad would be to be imperfect. It kept walking.

Ogrim was the first Great Knight it met. He was an interesting case, a change from everyone it had met so far. He was loud, and jovial, and always complimented it. It didn’t deserve the compliments.

Isma was the second. She was kind. Kinder than it deserved. Unlike Ogrim, though, Isma was willing to criticize it as well. But not rudely. Not like it deserved.

The third was Hegemol. He was rather different than it was expecting. He always called it cute. It didn’t understand why, but it didn’t voice this. It couldn’t. 

Dryya was next. She was fierce, and bold. She taught it many things. Mostly defense. She was professional. It would like her the best, but to like her, to like anyone, would be to have an opinion. Would be to be imperfect.

The final was Ze’mer. She was odd. She spoke with odd words it had never heard before, in a rather dramatic voice. But she was strong. Stronger than it. She was the first bug it had lost to. It had failed. 

Yet despite it’s failure, nobody seemed to care. It got up again, and Ze’mer stood ready.

_Do not hope_

It should’ve known pretending to be perfect wouldn’t yield anything good. But here it was.

It had failed. A far worse failure than losing to Ze’mer once or twice.

It was meant to contain Her, to hold Her back. To save Hallownest. And It had failed.

She spoke to it sometimes. Her name was Radiance. She told it this was all it’s fault. It believed Her.

It dared not hope as it called out to others like it.

It dared not hope as it felt the seals break

It dared not hope as the very same vessel it had left hanging off that platform walked in and cut it down.

It dared not hope as a familiar needle punctured its shell, followed by a just-as-familiar spider.

It dared not hope as its shade held The Radiance for the other vessel to banish.

It dared not hope.

_Do not_

It should’ve died, then. It’s shade along with the other’s should have become one with the Sea of Void once more. But it didn’t.

This life would take getting used to. It was nothing like it’s life at the palace.

Nothing like its life at the Palace. The Palace thats ruins lay pitifully in front of it. The Palace that had supposedly been gone for longer than some bugs have even been alive.

It stared at what was once its home. It would feel sad, if being sad didn’t make it imperfect.

It was aware of her eyes on it for some time now, but it didn’t acknowledge her. Until she spoke.

“Hollow?”

The title they had given to it. Title. They insisted it was a name, but a perfect vessel had no need for a name. It was a title.

“You’ve no need to pretend anymore.”

That got its attention. It turned its head to look at the smaller being next to it. A little spider in a red cloak. Hornet. She had grown since it last saw her.

“You never needed to. Father’s plan never would’ve worked.”

A lie. It would’ve worked, if it had truly been as perfect as he thought it was.

Hornet sighed as it stared blankly at her. It couldn’t understand why.

“It’s over, Hollow. Stop pretending.”

It supposed she was right. It guessed there really was no need to anymore. No need to hide its failure. A black tear slipped down it’s mask.

The last thing it expected her to do was hug it. It expected her to tell it what a failure, what a disappointment it was. Maybe it was a joke. Hornet used to love jokes. Hornet almost seemed to read its mind.

“I’m not joking. You’re not The Hollow Knight anymore. You’re you. Stop pretending you’re not.”

Hornet held it a little bit tighter.

They hugged her back.

**Author's Note:**

> WOO  
> I'm not good enough at writing to be doin angsty shit but fuck you i'll do it anyway  
> Ill uhhh edit this tomorrow


End file.
